Okay, so Voros McCracken largely broke the ground on how pitchers have little effect on their BABIP. Yet, when you go to FanGraphs.com, and look up someone’s BABIP graph, they have a “good” part and a “poor” part. That would infer that a pitcher does indeed control their BABIP. Am I reading into this wrongly? Also, I notice folks like Greg Maddux and Barry Zito seem to rise to the top like cream. They can’t just be the luckiest people in the world. What’s going on?

Also, does BABIP include HRs, or does “In Play” signify strictly in-field play?

The way I understand it, “skill” in BABIP is largely related to skill in inducing a particular type of batted ball. Line drives become hits more often than other types of BIP. If giving up lots of line drives is a “skill” for you (because, perhaps, you’re not a good pitcher), you’ll have a high BABIP. If your “skill” is in getting easy ground balls (sinkerball pitcher) or weak infield popups (knuckleballer), you’ll have a low BABIP if you’re consistent at it.

In-Play excludes HRs, because nobody can make a play on it. I suppose they should include inside-the-park HRs, but they happen so infrequently as to be immaterial.